Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 91 Shares of Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its position in Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE:BMI) by 0.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,575 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 91 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Badger Meter were worth $1,621,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Alliance bought a new stake in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in shares of Badger Meter by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 254,870 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $39,344,000 after acquiring an additional 7,094 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Badger Meter by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 288,004 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $44,459,000 after acquiring an additional 4,766 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Badger Meter in the fourth quarter valued at $1,069,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Badger Meter by 88.0% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 26,362 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $4,070,000 after purchasing an additional 12,339 shares during the period. 89.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BMI has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Badger Meter from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $147.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Maxim Group boosted their price objective on shares of Badger Meter from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Badger Meter from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Badger Meter from $151.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Badger Meter presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $170.50.

Badger Meter Price Performance

BMI stock traded down $3.29 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $185.39. The company had a trading volume of 9,242 shares, compared to its average volume of 180,473. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $190.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $167.93. The company has a market capitalization of $5.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.78. Badger Meter, Inc. has a 1 year low of $134.06 and a 1 year high of $202.81.

Badger Meter (NYSE:BMI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $196.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.25 million. Badger Meter had a net margin of 13.81% and a return on equity of 20.26%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Badger Meter, Inc. will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

Badger Meter Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Badger Meter’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.12%.

About Badger Meter

Badger Meter, Inc manufactures and markets flow measurement, quality, control, and communication solutions worldwide. It offers mechanical or static water meters, and related radio and software technologies and services to municipal water utilities market. The company also provides flow instrumentation products, including meters, valves, and other sensing instruments to measure and control fluids going through a pipe or pipeline, including water, air, steam, and other liquids and gases to original equipment manufacturers as the primary flow measurement device within a product or system, as well as through manufacturers' representatives.